Festival of literature on the cards next year

NEXT year could see the first Jersey Literature Festival, according to Assistant Education Minister Rod Bryans.

Speaking after Saturday’s Council for Culture Conference at Highlands College, Deputy Bryans says he is confident that a book festival could be held here next year, or possibly in 2014.

The director of the award-winning Wigtown Book Festival, Adrian Turpin, gave a speech at the Highlands College conference entitled How Not to Run a Book Festival and Deputy Bryans said that progress was being made.

The idea, which has the backing of the JEP, has been circulating for some time but the Deputy, who has political responsibility for culture, said that they were edging closer to making it a reality.

Isla Bonita

November 27, 2012 1:06 pm

Have you been into any of the schools on the Island Bo!?????? They all have computer suites that the children have access to. They all use the most recent operating systems. These are usually funded by the school and their respective PTA.

I think a childs relationship with reading comes from holding a book in their hand from a very young age. The feel of the paper as they turn the pages and the smells of the wood pulp evoke a reaction in children that no electronic device will ever replace. My children aged 10 and 13 love reading and enjoy the feel of a book. Neither of them is interested in having a Kindle, but they do ask for books.

Yes an e-reader is convenient as far as storing your books but no amount of technology is going to make a child read.

Bo

November 27, 2012 9:50 pm

Isla Bonita, yes I have, I work in primary education, so I have a very good insight.

Please let me know which one of our state run, not private schools has the latest IT equipment, with the latest software. Oh no, you will not find it, windows XP and Office 2002, hardly the latest is it!!!

And as for the odd few schools, states run that is, that have an iPad, it comes out of the schools budget where buy the school has to go with out in another area as our illustrious leaders do not have the foresight to bring these schools into the modern age. The majority of students have more modern equipment at home, but the powers within education prevent them from bringing in this.

As for your comments on "real" books, books cost money and are easily damaged often lost at home with parents not giving a damn. At the end of each school year, summer term that is, I watch in disbelief as the Liberian wasts hours chases after the missing books, often to no avail!!! Who funds this to replace or update? The school!!

An electronic version is there for ever, only having to buy once, where by the book can be printed off, this can only be done with modern IT equipment.

So next time you comment, choose wisely as I know a lot more about schools than YOU!

Philistine

Captain Fantastic

November 28, 2012 7:52 pm

The guy is clueless and is just using the public purse to fuel his ego, leave these things up to private enterprise and individuals. Not politicians who have failed in the past. His buy local campaign had all its promotional material printed in the UK.